The practice room looks tiny with twenty one people crammed into it. Different groups of young men chat with each other as they wait for someone to come tell them what to do.
In one corner, a group of three seem to be watching two others as they speak to each other animatedly. Another group of five sit about a meter away conducting their own loud disscussion. The remaining eleven are much quieter than these groups. A few pairs hold more reserved discussions than those of the groups, but the rest mostly are silent, casting glances towards the door as they await instructions.
Only moments after the room comes into focus, the door does swing open, revealing JYP himself. He flashes a smile first to the cameras, and then to the trainees, who have fallen silent and stare at him expectantly.
"Hello to you all, and welcome to the first day of filming!" As usual, he's over the top, and the camera catches Doc rolling his eyes at the show. "Now, I could ramble on about the coming competition, but truth be told it's already begun!" He waits for the trainees to murmur to each other, setting a nervous atmosphere in the room.
"We'll be dividing you into four groups. Each group will be given a different assignment and 24 hours in which to accomplish it. Please pay attention, I'm only calling out the groups once.
"In the first group we have Ant, Seongjun, Danny, and Kangjoo. You four have the next twenty four hours to create a full song of at least three minute length. This song will be the opening for the show for the remaining episodes, so make it good. You four will also be in charge of deciding who sings or raps what parts, so make sure all twenty one trainees have lines, alright?"
Ant nods stoically, and Seongjun gives a confident gesture of confirmation as well while Danny grins at the group he's sitting with. Only Kangjoo seems to have reservations.
"Only twenty four hours? For a whole song?" He pipes up, raising his hand as he does to draw attention to himself. "That isn't much time to create something of good quality sir."
"Nonsense, with all four of you working together I'm sure you'll do fine. Now, your time has already started so you four better get to the recording studio!" JYP's cheer doesn't diminish in the slightest, and he barely waits for the four in the first group to gather their wits and start heading out before announcing the next group.
"For the second group, it will be Collin, Koda, and Ash. All three of you have shown competency in choreography in the past, so you'll have the twenty four hours after the song is completed to create a dance for it and teach it to the other contestants." He smiles. "I'm sure with your experience you'll do just fine. And if the composing team finishes early then you'll have whatever time is leftover added to yours as well."
The three look at each other awkwardly. All three are sitting quite far from the others within the confines of the room, and the awkward atmosphere between them is evident. None of them make any move to leave as the CEO continues announcing the next team.
"The thirrd group will be Jude, Hongsol, G, Noheul, Soul, KimQ, and Sanghyun."
"Which one?" The taller of the two Sanghyuns calls out with a laugh. JYP smiles in return.
"Do Sanghyun. You're in the last group."
Na Sanghyun nods cheerfully in acceptance and JYP continues.
"You seven will have the twenty four hours after the choreographers are done to film a music video for the song. You have the additional luxury of the first fourty eight hours to procur equitment and a filming location, plus, as with the choreographers, you may use any of their time that they don't."
Jude stands up when it's clear JYP is done speaking and gestures generally around the room. The other six in his group stand up and follow him into the hallway. TJ waves cheerfully to Hongsol and Do Sanghyun as they exit, leaving only him and Koda from their original group of 5.
"The rest of you not in the first groups are lucky. You get all seventy two hours to achieve your assigned task."
"Which is?" Jihyun's annoyance and impatience is clear not only in his tone, but how he's sitting.
JYP's smile seems to strain for a moment before he's back to his usual cheerful self. "I'm getting there, hold your horses Jihyun. You seven will be looking for a live venue to debut the song. The whole group will be performing the song once the seventy two hours are up, so make sure to have secured a location by then. Dismissed!" With that, the CEO exits the room, leaving the ten remaining trainees to their own devices.
"Well if you've got seventy two hours, maybe we could hang out for now? We can't do anything without a song, right?" Koda is the first to start talking, his voice a little too loud for the room, which feels larger with eleven of its previous occupants now elsewhere.
"Except we don't." Xaris stand up as he speaks. Beside him, Reito stands as well, though he looks confused.
TJ looks over at the other man, not quite curious and not quite annoyed. "And why is that? JYP just said we have all seventy two hours, why not spend some time with our friends? They can't really do anything for the next twenty four hours so I don't see the harm in keeping them company?" He wasn't aggressive with the question, but there was a challenge in the words.
Xaris rolls his eyes. "But we don't actually have seventy two hours, we really only have the first twenty four. Think about it: we still have to learn the choreography and participate in filming the music video, so the only time we have to really look for a place will be before that."
TJ nods. "Yeah, that makes sense." He shrugs to Koda, who looks slightly sad. "Sorry. But you'll text me when the dance is ready, right Gogo?" He laughs and ducks when Koda reacts to the nickname by turning red and trying to smack him over the head.
While the two of them engage in a chase around the practice room, Xaris gets the rest of the group together near the door.
"Okay, any suggestions on where to start?" Xaris looks at the other five, who all look thoughtful save for Reito who's brow is furrowed as he attempts to figure out what exactly they're doing.
Doc notices and takes pity on the foreign boy, gently pulling him aside and speaking to him quietly in Japanese.
Meanwhile, the four composers have reached one of the sound studios, and they're already having disagreements.
"I already have a full song, I don't see why we can't just use that!" Danny isn't whining, but there is an annoyed edge to his voice as he enters the room and starts rifling through one of the drawers.
Kangjoo enters behind him, mid-eye roll. "Because this is supposed to be a team effort, not the Danny show. We aren't that group of trained monkeys you have following you around all day. We can use parts of your song, but this is a chance for all four of us to show our skills, not just you."
"Well then you three can arrange the song, problem solved!"
"That is not how this works hyung."
Seongjun trails in close behind Kangjoo, looking like he wants to say something but also like he doesn't want to get involved. Behind him, Ant doesn't even seem to be registering the argument as he grabs a notebook from one of the desks and begins flipping through it.
Danny is getting more annoyed with ever passing moment of the argument. "Well if we're not going to use a song I've already created, how do you propose we make an entire song in only a day Sir Know It All?"
Kangjoo scoffs at the nickname. "We're not making it from scratch obviously."
"Well if you'd be so kind as to elaborate-"
"I was thinking this section I wrote a while back might be a good starting point. It has a basic beat that could easily be incorporated into some of your things." Ant interrupts in a way that makes it seem he doesn't even realize he's doing it. He holds up the notebook he'd been going through to show to the other three.
Danny and Kangjoo watch him exasperatedly, while Seongjun seems relieved for the tension breaker.
"That's a good idea! Taking different sections of songs we've written in the past and arranging them together!" He exclaims, smiling hopefully at the other two.
Danny hesitates, and then smiles back. "It is! We might even finish early and give the next group some more time." The other three look at him questioningly, as they hadn't stayed to hear what the others were doing. Danny waves his phone at them "Ash texted me complaining about his group. They have to make a choreography to our song in twenty four hours and teach it to all of us as well."
"That seems really hard." Seongjun frowns. "I mean, for us dancers it won't be so bad, but some people like Do- I mean, TJ are terrible dancers."
"They'll probably be left at the back. Let's get to work on the song guys, don't forget we'll need lyrics and distribution done by the end of the time frame as well." Kangjoo points out somewhat impatiently.
The other three nod and they get to work.
Down the hall, Jude has taken leadership of his group and directs their conversation.
"Alright, so it's decided then. Hongsol and Noheul, you two are going to talk to one of Hongsol's producer friends to try and secure a cheap location to shoot at.
"KimQ, since you've performed before you're the most familiar with what equitment we'll need to use, so you and G will be in charge of talking to the staff to find out where to procure what we need.
"Soul, you're going solo to see about reserving the recording booth for the sound, and don't forget to see about talking to the composers about one of them helping us out in that department.
"And Sanghyun, you'll be with me looking for a professional director who might want to donate their time. Does anyone have any questions or issues with their assignments?"
Everyone shakes their heads, and Jude smiles. "Alright then, go team! You all have my number now, so text me updates on your missions as they come up."
The group breaks off into their pairs and head out the door in quick succession, leaving the room silent once again.
Soul heads straight for the recording booth where the four composers seem to have once again come to odds.
"I'm telling you, it will sound better if we switch to a major key in the final chorus."
"But the melody would lose the dark undertones we agreed on if we shifted major for that part!"
Soul raises and eyebrow as he knocks to announce his entrance. Seongjun is the only one who looks up to greet him.
"Hey hyung, what brings you to the chaos palace?"
Soul laughs "Is that what you're calling it?"
Seongjun sighs and shrugs. "Kangjoo and Danny-hyung keep arguing about how to arrange everything and Ant-hyung is writing the lyrics instead of helping."
"Arranging already? Don't you need the song first?"
Seongjun gives a smile. "Actually, we all had enough partial works to have a song outline within an hour. Now we're just trying to flesh it out and figure out the details of it all."
Soul looks impressed. "It's only been what, four hours? That's pretty good you guys!"
Danny and Kangjoo finally notice the fifth person in the room and quickly stop their debate to greet the newcomer.
"Annyeong hyung, shouldn't you be with your own group?"
Soul laughs, "Blunt as always Kangjoo. But actually I'm here on official group business. We figure part of our section will involve actually recording the song for the music video, and since none of us have any experience in that department we were wondering if any of you did, and would be willing to help out a fellow contestant." He grins innocently.
Seongun and Danny both shake their heads.
"Sorry Soul, not my department. I just write the songs." Danny explains. "Though I think..." He trails off and kicks Ant, who was sitting next to him at the table. "Hey kid, you've been on the other side of the recording glass a couple of times, right?"
Ant looks up in surprise, and then nods, quickly recovering his usual look of stoic indifference. Danny grins.
"Perfect! You can help these guys with the music video then!"
Ant nods again before returning to the lyrics in front of him. Soul can't resist peering over the teen's shoulder to see what's been written so far.
"Hey, no peeking! Go back to your own group now!" Danny's complaints are teasing, but he does shoo Soul out of the studio along with Seongjun, who gives Soul one last grin before shutting the door. Soul briefly sticks his tongue out before laughing and turning down the hall.
"Well then, that was easy. Hopefully the next task will be just as straightforward!"
"I can't believe in a group of seven people not one of you can drive!"
"Oh calm down hyung, you'll survive public transit for one day. I'm sure Byunjae will even hold your hand."
"I totally will!"
Jihyun looks over at Byunjae in annoyance. "If you try shrimp I'm going to abandon you at the MNet building."
"So, um," Reito pipes up nervously, clearly thinking hard about each word he says. "What if none of the music shows will let us perform?"
Doc, who until that moment had been in a glaring contest with Jihyun, looks over at the youngest contestant and smiles encouragingly. "We'll think of something if it comes to that, but for now let's stay positive, alright?"
Reito scrunches his eyebrows together and nods uncertainly. While Doc repeats what he'd said in Japanese, Jihyun starts handing bus tickets to the other four young men.
"By the way you guys owe me for these." Her grumbles.
Byunjae pouts adorably. "But hyuuung, don't you like being nice to your dongsaengs?"
Jihyun laughs. "No. Who's going to The Show again?"
"That's me and the other Sanghyun." TJ supplies cheerfully.
Sanghyun whines. "Stop calling me that. Do Sanghyun isn't here, you can just call me Sanghyun!"
"But Sanghyun is one of my best friends, so to me you're the other Sanghyun!"
"Then just call me Kitty!"
"But that's a weird nickname!"
The two are laughing as they bicker, so the others decide to ignore them and finish getting their tickets from an increasingly impatient Jihyun.
"Okay, you're sure you know where the MNet building is Jihyun?" Xaris checks.
The chaebol rolls his eyes. "Yes. Now go focus on your own job, we only have 15 hours left thanks to someone getting distracted goofing off with his friend." He looks pointedly over at TJ, who doesn't notice over his continued banter with Sanghyun.
Xaris shrugs amicably. "Not to worry, there aren't many big groups promoting right now. One of the shows should be able to slip in a three minute spot for a JYP competition."
Jihyun gives a slight huff before heading off, Byunjae scrambling to keep up behind him. Xaris sighs and then nods to Doc and Reito. The two start heading for their bus station. Xaris pauses to glace at TJ and Sanghyun
"Don't miss your bus guys." He reminds them loudly. They both laugh and apologize before racing off towards their stop.
Back at JYP, the choreographers are all sitting silently in the original room, now vacant except for the three of them.
"Okay, this is ridiculous." Koda is the one to stand up first, breaking the silence with a still slightly too loud voice. "We've been sitting here on our phones forever, let's do something!"
"It's been ten hours, and we only came back here an hour ago because one of the staff people got mad at us for walking around and taking naps." Collin corrects, sounding detachedly bored. "And what do you suggest genius? We need the song before we can choreograph anything."
Koda deflates but remains standing, clearly itching to do something. "We could just freestyle?" He suggests weakly after a moment of thinking.
"That may be the smartest thing I've ever heard you say." Ash pipes up lightly, putting down his phone. "I could go for a dance battle actually, I think I've caught all the Pokemon around here anyway."
Koda tilts his head and looks around in confusion. "There are Pokemon? Where?"
"There he is." Collin laughs, further confusing Koda, who quickly gives up on trying to figure it out and starts stretching instead. Collin walks over to the speaker system in the room and hooks up his I-Pod.
Ash looks over at him for a moment before shrugging and returning to his own warm ups. After about a minute the room is abruptly flooded with blaring music.
Ash yells something at Collin, who's started his stretches. He doesn't hear at first, so Ash walks over and taps him aggressively on the shoulder. They shout at each other for a moment before a disgruntled Collin turns the music down.
Koda doesn't seem to have noticed the exchange as he continues happily freestyling around the room. Once the music is softer, Ash calls to the other dancer.
"Alright Koda, you and me!"
Koda perks up and looks over, still swaying with the muisc. "You want to start or shall I embarrass you now?"
Ash grins. "In your dreams Gogo."
Koda turns red. "It is on."
Collin just laughs as he watches them dance while continuing to stretch. When the song finishes, he clears his throat.
"If you two call that dancing, I'd say this battle is in the bag for me." He taunts. The other two grin.
"Bring it."
The battle fast-forwards through five hours in five minutes, when it slows just as the door swings open a few minutes after midnight.
"Hey, looks like you guys are having fun!" Seongjun exclaims. He's practically vibrating with excitement as he bounces over to Koda, who happily pats him on the head in greeting.
"You guys are done?" Collin looks impressed for a moment before he schools his features into one of disbelief.
Soengjun nods enthusiastically. "Just about. Once we decided to stop arguing and just try every suggestion people made it got a lot easier. All that's left is line distribution, which is why I'm here!" He holds up his phone proudly. "I'll need clips from each of you singing or rapping, whichever you do, so we can finish that and then you guys can start choreographing!"
The scene cuts to TJ's phone buzzing. He and Na Sanghyun are sitting on the steps of The Show's main building, sipping coffees and looking exhausted despite the nightlife still bustling around them despite the hour.
TJ checks the phone and sighs. "Seongjun wants us to record snippets of us singing so his team can finish distributing parts."
Sanghyun hums tiredly. "Okay. We aren't doing anything else I guess. Hear anything from the other teams yet?"
TJ shakes his head as he opens a recording app on his phone. "I hope they're having more luck than us though. No one will even let us in, nonetheless let us talk to someone who can get us stage time!" He checks the time on his phone. "Six hours now we've been sitting out here." He grumbles.
Sanghyun pats him lightly on the head and TJ laughs a bit.
"What?"
"Gosaeng does that sometimes is all. You tall people and your head patting. Come on, let's get these recordings sent and then start trying to talk to people again!" TJ seems renewed as he jumps from the steps and stretches out before looking back and grinning at Sanghyun.
Sanghyun grins back and hops up as well. "Let's do it!"
"I'm done!" Across the city Jihyun throws his hands angrily into the air. Byunjae looks at him nervously but remains silent."
"Seven hours now we've been consistently rejected and ignored! I won't have this anymore!" Before his rant can continue, Byunjae's phone starts to loudly play "Hopefully Sky" by Jung Eunji.
Byunjae flushes under Jihyun's sharp glare as he scrambles to answer the call. "Hello? Oh hi hyung!" He looks up at Jihyun. "Uh, we're doing fine. What's up?" He listens quetly for a long moment before nodding. "Sounds good! You can send me Jihyun-hyung's parts too, he's with me." He hangs up after another moment and turns to Jihyun, who looks at him impatiently waiting for an explanation.
"That was Danny-hyung. He said the composers are done, so they'll be sending us our parts for the song to study, and the choreographers will send out a mass message when they're ready to start teaching us, so we should probably get closer to the JYP building."
Jihyun frowns. "They're done already? That gives us even less time to find a venue. I'm calling Xaris, maybe he's had some luck. If not we should rethink our strategy."
"I'll call Sanghyun." Byunjae offers cheerfully, already dialing before Jihyun responds. "Maybe him and TJ will have gotten somewhere!"
The screen splits to cut Byunjae out of the frame leaving only Jihyun in the shot. On the right half of the screen Xaris appears, answering his phone.
"Hey, have you guys accomplished anything or are we all just wasting time?" Jihyun's question is perhaps blunter than it needed to be, but Xaris responds calmly.
"We did manage to speak to a lower ranked staff member, but Inkigayo is booked for Friday unfortunately, as is Show Champion."
"How did you manage- you know what never mind, JYP's nephew can go anywhere he wants I'm sure. Anyway we can't even get in, no one is going to give two random trainees the time of day. So what now?"
"We'll reconvene at the station closest to the JYP building. We don't know how long it will take for the dance to be completed, and seven minds brainstorming will be better. Should we call the other two or?"
Jihyun places his hand over his phone for a moment and snaps at Byunjae offscreen to get his attention. "Hey, tell those two to go back to the JYP station, we're meeting up there." He goes back to his own phone conversation. "We got it."
Xaris nods. "Alright, see you soon."
"So how exactly do you guys want to do this? I usually choreograph by myself, not with two other people."
The three choreographers are sitting in a triangle on the floor. Collin shrugs in response to Ash's inquiry.
"Haven't the faintest. Plus we should remember to keep the dance pretty simple."
Koda frowns and tilts his head questioningly. "Why's that?"
Collin rolls his eyes and leans back on his forearms. "Even if the first group did give us an extra seven hours, we still need to teach the dance to everyone by eight o'clock tomorrow morning, so that needs to be doable for the really bad dancers."
Koda nods. "Oh, yeah. That makes sense! Well, let's get started! I had some ideas for the first part-"
Ash interrupts. "Shouldn't we do the chorus first? That's the most important part. And don't forget we'll have to figure out where everyone is standing too."
Koda pouts but gives in. "Okay, I have ideas for that too!"
Again the video fast forwards through seven hours in five minutes. The three move rapidly through several formations, often stopping to debate with each other.
When the seven hours are over the scene cuts away to show Hongsol and KimQ setting up some cameras in a large warehouse with assitance from a staff member.
"Thank you so much again for helping us set everything up ajusshi!" Hongsol bows low to the staff member once the camera's wires are arranged properly.
The staff member smiles. "It's not a porblem at all Hongsol-ah. But why is it just the two of you setting things up here? Don't you have other teammates?"
KimQ turns a smile towards the staff member. "Well, since our objective spans a lot of ground, we've divided the tasks to try and make sure everything is accomplished in time so we can use our full twenty four hours for just filming. Soul-hyung is with one of the composers recording everyone's lines for the final track, and Jude-hyung is still seeing about finding a professional director to help us out. The other three are recording right now, so we'll be switching with them when they're done. But for now it's just the two of us." He ends the little speech with another soft smile, and the staff member smiles back.
"Well I'm more than happy to help out in the mean time. That was the last camera, so why don't we see what we can do about the lighting around here!"
Hongsol's smile practically lights up the room on it's own. "Oh wow, thank you ajusshi! You really don't have to do that, so thank you very much!" He bows over ninety degrees, happiness radiating from him as she bounces back up and heads towards the spotlights standing near the entrance of the warehouse, the staff member and KimQ not far behind.
The scene fast forwards again. After an hour, around ten AM, three other contestants enter the warehouse. Noheul, G, and Do Sanghyun begin assisting the staff member with set up while Hongsol and KimQ bow and take their leave. Another three hours pass showing the four working hard to clean the warehouse and arrange everything nicely. Around noon Hongsol and KimQ return, and at two Jude walks in and the scene returns to normal speed.
"Looks good you guys! We may get some napping in before the choreographers need us!"
Hongsol looks up and promptly bounces over. "Hey hyung! Did you find a director?"
Jude sighs and shakes his head. "I came close a few times, but something always comes up. And then Soul texted saying I should come in to record. But it looks like you guys are doing well! The place looks a lot prettier than when we first got it."
Before he can continue the sound of several phones buzzing echoes through the warehouse.
"And that's probably the choreographers." Jude bows quickly to the staff who helped them, as do the other contestants, and then leads the group back towards the main building.
They arrive at the same time as most of group four, with the exception of Doc and Jihyun.
"Guys!" TJ bounds straight over to Do Sanghyun and Hongsol and drapes himself across them. "Thank goodness, I've been surrounded by these nerds for too long!"
The other Sanghyun whines loudly in protest as they enter the dance room.
"About time. Let's get started." Collin's impatient greeting is the first thing they hear, and everyone quickly forms a circle.
"Doc and Jihyun are finishing up with our part of the assingment so they'll be here in an hour or so." Xaris says.
Ash frowns. "I guess that's fine if it's unavoidable, but they can't complain if they don't pick up the dance well."
"Jihyun's a dancer, so he should be fine, and maybe just keep Doc to the back of the formation?"
Ash nods slowly. "He's back for a lot of it anyhow I suppose. But enough of that, let's get started. We'll be dividing you into three groups and each of us will teach you the choreography separately for the next few hours. Once you guys mostly have it we're going to show you the full formations."
Koda waves a hand around. "I'll be with the guys in the back! So Doyeon, Hongsol, Sanghyun, less cool Sanghyun-"
"Hey!" Na Sanghyun pouts again. "That's mean, your group should stop favoring each other!"
TJ pokes him cheerfully, while Koda ignores them and lists off the last two people in the group. "Byunjae, and then Doc when he gets here!"
"But I'm a good dancer!" Byunjae insists as he follows the others out of the room behind Koda.
Ash goes next. "Front dancers will be with me. SO Jihyun when he gets here, and then Seongjun, KimQ, G, Jude, and Reito."
Reito looks around nervously when his name is called, and KimQ smiles and waves him over as Ash leads his group out, leaving Collin with the remaining contestants.
"Alright, we get the confusing part." He announces loudly. "So listen well or you're going to mess up, got it?"
Everyone nods, and the scene fastforwards. At the hour mark it slows slightly to show Jihyun and Doc return and be sent to their respective groups, then speeds up again.
Around one in the morning the three groups reconvene and work through the entire dance, though it's near impossibe to make out between the speed and people running into each other. At eight AM the door swings open and the footage slows down as teh boys stop the music and bow to the CEO.
"Looks like you're right on schedule! Time's up for the choreographers, so you better start filming!"
Ahs frowns but says nothing as the CEO leaves again. Jude comes up beisde him and rests a hand on his shoulder lightly before turning to the group.
"Okay, so the dance isn't perfect yet, but if we finish filming quickly we can use the last few hours before the live performance to keep practicing. Doc, Jihyun, what time is the performance?"
"One thirty tomorrow afternoon, but we have to be there to set up by at least noon so I'd say we should head out by nine thirty or ten at the latest so we can get costume and makeup done as well."
Jude nods. "Alright, so let's head to the warehouse and see what we've got."
Soul raises his hand. "Actually I need to kidnap Jihyun and Doc, they haven't recorded their parts yet. Ant, you come too." WIthout waiting for a response he grabs Ant's hand and drags him out the door, clearly expecting the other two to follow.
Doc goes without complaint, but Jihyun drags his feet some, muttering about deserving a nap. The rest of the trainees follow Group Three to the warehouse, where they're surprised to find an older man standing behind several computer monitors that had definitely not been there when the group had left.
Jude looks surprised, and then smiles widely as the man walks over. "Hyung! I thought you had a job today?"
"I managed to delay it. Your sister sends her regards and good luck wishes by the way."
Jude nods, still looking excited, and turns to the other contestants. "So it looks like we have professional director to help with tips."
"Shouldn't he just do the whole thing? If he's here, doesn't that make the most sense?" G sounds cautious as he asks the question, and Jude nods slightly.
"Fair, but we're still supposed to be running this part, so consider him a consultant of sorts."
G nods in understanding and says nothing more as Jude gathers Group Three, minus Soul, at the front of the group.
"Okay, so we want to film this quickly. We threw around a few ideas earlier, but let's solidify our game plan now so we don't have to stop later."
As Group Three discusses, the other contestants mill around, looking at the warehouse.
Byunjae drags Na Sanghyun around, marvelling at the different sets.
"Can you believe they did all this in just two days?" Byunjae marvels as he gazes into one of the rooms, done up to look like a ballroom.
"Less even, since they had to learn the dance with us." Sanghyun adds, glancing around curiously. "I think most of the work went into this room though, since the others all have green screens in them."
Their exploration is cut short by the arrival of the last four contestants. Jude waves everyone back to the main area with the computer systems.
"Okay, so we thought it would be a good idea to film the three separate groups, like how we learned the dance before we put everyone together, That if we make mistakes during the main dance we can just cut to one of the three individual groups and finish up early so we can practice the full group dance before the live performance tomorrow. And now that everyone is here we can split up and get to it! We only have two green screen rooms so one of the groups will be filming at the back of the ballroom."
Ash and Collin promptly start grabbing the people from their dance groups, but Koda seems oblivious as to what's going on. Luckily his group gather around him without prompting.
"Alright, we're thinking the group in the main room will be Colin's group. Koda and Ash, you'll get the greenscreens-"
KimQ clears his throat quietly. When all eyes are on him he speaks, softly, but his voice fills the space. "Actually I think the back area we were uncertain about might make for a nice backdrop. We can rig up a green screen to put a chandelier in the back, but I think the atmosphere there could be nice."
Jude nods. "Your call. Everyone good to go? If you do have any questions I think all three groups have someone from our team so you can ask them."
Each group heads to their own areas with members of Group Three taking the lead. The footage fast forwards through fifteen hours, until all the contestants have returned and are peering at the computer monitors.
"Dude can we use that shot of Xaris-hyung? Please? He looks ridiculous!" Noheul is cracking up as he avoids Xaris's wrath by sprinting across the warehouse, nearly knocking over some of the technical staff Group Three managed to recruit to help with editing the video.
"Guys, why don't you head back to the practice room and work on the full group dance? G, KimQ, and I will stay here to help with the editing process, and we'll join up with you in a bit." Jude suggests, and the three choreographers agree, herding the rest of the group back towards the practice rooms.
G watches the other two idly as they look over the monitors and help choose what footage to use in the final video. After a few minutes Jude glances over at him, frowning.
"Would you rather go practice with the others G?"
G shakes his head. "I'm good."
Annoyance starts to make it's way onto Jude's face, but he pushes it back and turns more towards G. "Look I know you're upset, but we could use some help here. More heads means we'll be done faster, right? And we only have eight hours left until our time is up."
Now G looks slightly annoyed. "What would I be upset about? Let me see that clip." He stands straight and walks over to the table, sliding between KimQ and Jude to watch the monitor. KimQ looks at the two worriedly but neither looks at him and he ultimately looks back to the screens.
The image changes to show the practice room. A time stamp on the corner notes that it's 7:30 AM, and the contestants in the room look exhausted and sweaty. There's no sound as they move through a few steps of the dance creating an odd atmosphere.
G, KimQ, and Jude all enter the room, looking tired. The others stop dancing and gather around them, asking silent questions. Jude replies while KimQ and G both fade back into the crowd of trainees.
Ash waves his hands around and the dance begins again once everyone calms down and returns to their positions.
The time stamp fastforwards to 9:30, when Collin turns off the music and the sound returns.
"Alright, that's as good as it's getting I guess. Let's get going, we have a performance to slay."
( AUTHOR'S NOTE ) So because the rap was in Korean I didn't realize the rest of the song is in Japanese OTL Just... pretend it's Korean?? ;; By the time I realized the mix up it was way too late to change the song ;; And then at the end of the chapter it got really choppy and there are some contestants who ddin't get to do much and I'll try to give them more creen time in the next episode!
But from what you have seen, I hope it was enough to get an idea of who you like, because it's voting time! Remember, list your top five favorite contestants, and make sure to number them so I don't get mixed up!
A thus I finally put down my pen and release this story as truly complete. Hope you guys enjoyed the BTS and that you'll check out my new apply Princess!
Chapter 53: Oh boy here we go again. Everyone strap on your safety belts: feelings are coming.
Oooh Byunjae. Of course he's calculating his way into an easy, we knew he'd do that. And I suppose we'll see more of him in the next bts too. You know how I feel about him and it's not altogether positive, but I suppose that in and of itself is a win for you. As long as I feel something you did your job well, and I certainly feel something for this pipsquick. "There is one person who has escaped rightful elimination." I knew this was coming but also off Byungjae DO NOT TOUCH MY DOYEON. Thankfully I also know how this happens.
SPEAK OF THE ANGEL. Oh honey. "This is fine" is the thing we tell ourselves when we desperately need that to be true.
"It almost worries him how familiar the feeling of drowning has become just in the past week."
.
"Nineteen years of coasting and then this show hits and suddenly it's a constant barrage of everything he's ignored his entire life."
NOPE.
"Maybe the world is telling him something."
TOO REAL. NOPE. NOPE. LET'S NOT.
Oh man Doyeon. You gotta check yourself before you wreck yourself son. Take care of yourself before you take care of others. Don't use the reliance of others to avoid your problems PLEASE I'M DYING HERE. . Dani I do not appreciate being on the other end of this stick goddamnit. I much prefer writing the timebombs not reading them ;A; This is SO STRESSFUL.
"maybe this was karma, coming back to put him in the eliminated group where he was supposed to be."
Doyeon I will reach through this ing screen and give you the overwhelming amount of hugs that you need and deserve SO HELP ME.
Chapter 52: Omg that picture of jyp as I scrolled down xD Poor guy what did he do to you Dani??
Wow not pulling your punches going into this huh? I feel for Kangjoo and his defeated attitude. Honey! "Almost, but not quite. Because he's Choi Kangjoo and nothing scares him, especially not moody teenagers. " Honey you should be very afraid there's nothing more terrifying than teenagers! Oh man Byunjae, so much pettiness. Jude continues to intrigue me. So much depth packed in such a pleasant little exterior. Hmmm.
Aaah honestly this section warms my heart. The friend group has always been the most wholesome part of the competition, even with the troubles Doyeon faced. Even with the time bomb that's Doyeon they're still somewhat of an oasis of uncomplicated calm. "Seongjun honestly loves the idiots he calls friends. He says as much to Doyeon when they're piling back into the van to head to the second shooting location and gets a grin and a hug from both Doyeon and Hongsol, who overheard the comment. Gosaeng gags at them, and Doyeon retaliates by attacking him with a hug as well." I'm not crying you're crying! It's so sweet and we needed that after the defeated acceptance with a fringe of salt from Kangjoo. As much as I love all the drama, there is nothing quite like a break with friendship and happiness.
Aaah and then there's the edge of drama. Seongjun the one who switched. And of course you can say whatever dumb you want in this group, Doyeon, Sanghyun, and god forbid GOSAENG are all idiots honestly. Whatever dumb thing you'd say Seongjun, I can guarantee you Gosaeng has said dumber things <3 Aaah. Fair weather friends huh? There's so much history packed in those few paragraphs. "They're fun, and they're kind, and they make Seongjun feel safe and happy. He can't ask for more than that." I'M NOT CRYING YOU'RE CRYING. So wholesome ;A;
Chapter 51: Holy this is the best gift I just finished a messy birth of a literature review chapter and I can use this treat. LET'S DO THIS.
So of course my son can be counted on to be dumb and break tension <3 Oh an I forgot how much I love Gosaeng and his stupidity. Come here one of my shameless favourite sons! And Ash. He never really caught my eye during the broadcast but of course a POV would change that. Man the power of POVs. LOOK AT THIS FRIENDSHIP FORMING MY HEART. But alas, elimination ever loom. Uuuugh bittersweet.
Ah. Of course. Jihwan. Aaaah yep that hurt knowing the inplication. When one is joint to the hip, separation does not come gentle. It explains why G was so unhappy for the beginning of the show, but he always did grow on me when he came back with a new outlook. G was one of the biggest comebacks for me honestly. He's fascinating.
Doyeon. Oh Doyeon. I've been dreading this. But also not because we all know how I love having my heart ripped out and crushed to dust, it's my favourite thing! Okay. So. I couldn't even really livecommen for that, I was too busy gripping my heart and reading. That whole section was masterfully written Dani. You really nailed his spiral and his confusion and his denial- . That was good. That was art. That was amazing. It hurts but in a good way.
"She didn't think they'd actually try to argue with her" oh honey. Oh babe. They're heads. "Once the dance is complete she reveals their costumes for the performance and all hell breaks loose all over again." PFFT of course. I feel bad for her she shouldn't have to deal with these s but alas she chose them.
Chapter 50: This isn't a SoC but I'm gonna toss my thoughts at you anyway!
I've always found Doc an interesting character. The way he was forced to do this even though he didn't want to because of his family connections is a very interesting way to go about nepotism. Thus this little look into his history is so fascinating, the way does and doesn't accept what's given to him at the same time. And of course the salty duo of him and Jihyun was always a pleasure!
Next up is the man itself. I love this contrast between bossy control freak Jihyun and most passive man alive Ant, and Jihyun's subsequent confusion that anyone would not /want/ something.
Ah. Of course JYP had seen, just as we did, that Jude is really the only viable candidate for a leader. I'm not surprised by this obvious favouritism (I do write Do or Die after all) and manipulation, and it's not what I see as the biggest revelation for me in this snipped. No, what I found even more interesting was the little look into his friendship with Hongsol (though, let's be real, I'm not exactly an unbiased party there). Just the fact that Jude decides to manage Hongsol instead of being straight with him speaks volumes about their friendship, and not something I'd gathered from the actual show. It speaks of something of an inequality there. An unbalance. And then even that could be dismissed as wanted what's best for your friend, even if that's not a way of going about it that I would personally find acceptable, if it weren't what followed: the almost calculated decision to not have time for Hong's insecurities right now but, as he puts it, handle them later. There's this emphasis on handling, he's handling his friend. One shouldn't be handling their friends. I doubt he has any malicious intent at all, but this does suggest this inequality. If it's an inequality in positions and/or an inequality in how much the friendship means to each of them remains to be seen but I'll be keeping my eye on them.
Chapter 47: Holy crap, these BTS chappies are such nostalgia trips ahhhhh~
I'll be catching up on \/s first before I get drawn into rereading all of this just to prepare for BTS, but holy crap, the fact that we are literally taking quotes of the chapters and unpacking them for cool tidbits is such a squee-worthy concept!!!!! (It's so good to see these boys again too!)
Chapter 44: I ACTUALLY HAVE SOME TIME TODAY SO IMMA STREAM OF CONSCIOUSNESS THIS LIKE I DID THE FIRST EP okay let’s go
The beginning screen flashes always remind me of the Marvel opening for some reason haha, but then I mentally pictured the “Two Days Later” as one of those spongebob transition screens???
You can’t just pair people up and put them into separate rooms full of tension, Dani~ You make it too easy to ship things!!
Aaaaaaaand by ship I don’t mean OTP but rather the package of my heart labelled “Fragile: Handle with Care” then punted off a cliff into the cold seas of “nooo my children don’t be sad!!”
Chapter 44: Oh man that was- I think a crazy ride is definitely the good descriptor here. I can't believe it's over either. 21 has been such a staple in my week, waiting around for the weekend for chapters while the rest of the week was taken up by various forms of adulting or despairing over no wifi. I'll miss it, even though I know that it's going to get replaced with Vs real soon. It's still not exactly the same you know? I love all these s so much now. They're MY heads and I love them. Well, okay, OUR heads.
Oh man for a moment I was scared Jude was going to get eliminated, in which case everything would have definitely fallen apart I mean who else is going to lead this merry band of misfits? Especially since Kyu isn't there either, oh no that hurt me. That one hurt me real bad. He was the big one besides TJ/Koda/Jude that I really wanted to see debut, also knowing his backstory and how much he deserved it. He came so far only to just not achieve his goal. I'm sad for the Sanghyun's too, but I didn't have near the attachment to them that I have for Kyu. Kim Kyuhyun please join Doyeon and Gosaeng in the you-deserve-so-much-more pile. Seongjun and Hongsol are the only ones of the friend group who made it and damned if that doesn't sting.
Chapter 44: That was very, very familiar to that of a real survival show. You captured emotions really well, so thank you for that. Both of my favorites, the Sanghyuns, sadly didn't make it to debut, but they made it very far, and I'm proud of the both of them. Using MADTOWN for their debut is really nice! Underrated groups need much more love than they're given. I was a bit worried when the final members were chosen, not because of talent but because of everything that took place during the show. However, towards the end, those worries calmed down A LOT. I found myself wishing these were real people and a real group I could support. Honestly, it reminded me a lot of No Mercy (that being my favorite survival show, honestly). I loved the JYP feel you gave to it, and I love the personalities of the MC and the interviewer. I also love the group's name being Gold in the end. Overall, I obviously very much enjoyed this as I finished it in mere hours. And now, I'm even more excited for Vs to begin. I'm sure the females will be just as interesting, if not more, than the males of the this story. Expect to see me commenting frequently over there even if my girls meet their downfall. :) - Jelly
This was cruelty in the most beautiful way like… man. I never get used to these eliminations, and even though I know who makes it to episode 9, it’s still rough seeing some of the kids go. (That little bit of foreshadowing with Na Sanghyun looking particularly worried though… I didn’t catch that until the reread, but dang…)
I feel like Soul is just kind of cursed, haha. Not his own fault, per se, but everything bad that’s happened to him so far seems mostly due to circumstance rather than his own qualities. Like Xaris said, this kid is a solid that any group would be lucky to have, but first there’s the fighting team and then there’s going up against St. Jude… kid can’t catch a break, even though he (and Sam Kim) sing like daaaaang boy why are you not everywhere.
These repeat match-ups are hurting me inside, man. I know when I first read that G and Xaris were going against each other I immediately was like oh god oh no please let this happen only once, but hello episode 9. I honestly love both of them so much. G is fantastically mature, and Xaris has shown so much growth. Since I can’t tell a good rap from a saran wrap, I’ll have to base my choice on personality… which is impossible, Dani, waiiii u do this?! Do I want the one who is already frighteningly mature or the one who is slowly maturing? Do I want the one who takes everything in stride and never stopped powering forward or the one who never backs down without a fair amount of fight and learned to keep powering forward after briefly stopping? DO I WANT WELL-DEVELOPED CHILD OR CHILD DEVELOPING WELL? CAN’T I JUST BUILD MY SHRINES IN PEACE?!
oh, also… *moves Xaris’ and Soul’s shrine closer together* At least you will be together in this way, regardless of what happens…
Comments